Favorite American Pale Ale Yeast

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Jmarsh544

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I have been on a 12 year journey to brew the perfect pale ale, and have used all sorts of yeast, malt and hop combinations. I have this nagging feeling that there is a yeast out there, that will compliment my pale perfectly, I just don’t know if I have found it yet. There are trade offs with dry vs. liquid, brewing regularly enough to keep re-pitching, etc. but if there were no constraints, what would your guys’ perfect pale ale yeast be?

If it helps I am currently brewing 4.5% abv pales with a good dose of bittering hops and whirlpool hops to about 40 ibus. My last many batches I have used wlp-007 and I have been pretty happy with the results, but I just keep wondering if I am missing something.
 
I am currently drinking one made with Full Pint and 26% Copper malt at 1.050 OG 1.008 FG using WY2565. This yeast takes some time to clear but that just helps the flavors meld. It was ~ 7 weeks grain to glass,and is crystal clear. If you want a fast fresh one then Notty is my go to.
 
I like Nottingham for Pale Ales and IPAs better than US-05 ( dry, crisp, agressive, fast fermenter and clears well ). If you want something liquid, I can recommend WY 1318, Imperial A38 Juice and Fullers yeast strain.
 
I have not had success with 007. A brewing friend and I brewed the same beer with 007 and the hops were muted compared to previous brews with 001 and US05. I know other people have had success with it but we didn't.

001 and 090 are my current favourites for APA.
 
My go to strain is Wy1217, second choice is Bry-97. Both fairly clean ale yeasts, with 1217 having just the right balance of sweet in the beginning with a dry finish.

I'm planning on trying the Conan/644 blend soon, if you like fruity.
 
I normally use US-05 for pales and IPAs but wlp029 makes a good pale, does not ferment too dry, allows hops to come through nicely, ferments quick and drop quite clear on it's own.
 
For 4.5% beers what is your desired FG? What’s your water profile?

Are you going for more dry and crisp or more full bodied?

Wyeast 1728
Wyeast 1450
Wyeast 1318
Wyeast 1007
Wlp030

All great options for a more full bodied beer.
 
All great recommendations - thank you! I am shooting for a finish around 1.011 and my water profile mimics BruWater bitter pale profile, with something in between crisp and full bodied. I have had my eye on 090, and I think maybe I’ll try that next. I will start researching and lining up some of these other yeasts that I have not tried yet. I think I’ll do a bunch of 2.5 gallon batches and try a lot of these out. I’ll report back!
 
wlp090 will take you to the dry side.

WLP076 is a vault stain, but would be useful if you want to fine tune the FG. It takes off fairly quick and attenuated down to about 50% in a couple days then slows down to steady crawl taking about 2 weeks to hit FG. If you keg it would be easy to crash at the point you want.
 
I have to say my favorite is the local breweries proprietary strain. I've been playing with a few slurries of it. Per the brewers a suitable sub for this would be Wyeast 1007 which is equivalent to White Labs wlp036 per http://www.mrmalty.com/yeast.htm#WL I'd recommend fermenting around 60F. It ended up very clean and balanced compared to the chico brews prior. If 1007 is anything like the house strain it is not flocculant at all so keep that in mind. This was the best IPA yet and will be my house IPA/Pale Ale strain ;)
 
Try Wyeast 1968. Some of the charts list wlp 002 and s04 as substitutes, but I have tried those. They are not close, in my experience. It is a truly lovely yeast. Nice fruit esters that can be subdued or coaxed forward with slight adjustments in temp. Compliments your hop bill very nicely.
 
As a quick update, I have been making my way through some different yeasts and I just did a split batch of a low alcohol version of Lake Walk Pale Ale. I spilt the batch between 090 and 1318. The 090 came out ok, but very one note. The 1318 came out awesome. I am going to try the 1318 in an ordinary bitter and an IPA, and see if I can make this a house yeast.
 
If you like 1318 you should try The Yeast Bay Vermont (WLP4000). It's great in American Pales.
 
As a quick update, I have been making my way through some different yeasts and I just did a split batch of a low alcohol version of Lake Walk Pale Ale. I spilt the batch between 090 and 1318. The 090 came out ok, but very one note. The 1318 came out awesome. I am going to try the 1318 in an ordinary bitter and an IPA, and see if I can make this a house yeast.

How did your FG compare between the two?
 
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